Paceman Pat Cummins eyes World Cup

Next year’s World Cup remains a realistic goal for Pat Cummins, as the fit-again paceman looks to put three years of frustration behind him.

Cummins starred in Australia’s seven-wicket win over South Africa at the MCG on Friday night, conceding 11 runs in four miserly overs during the Twenty20 clash.

It was a tick under three years ago when Cummins grabbed headlines against the same opposition, starring on Test debut in Johannesburg.

Since then there has been almost nothing but setbacks and stress fractures, but the 21-year-old has high hopes he is over the worst of it.

“I hope so,” Cummins replied when asked if the one-day World Cup is a realistic goal.

“There’s ODIs coming up and I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

“At the moment I’m just happy to be playing cricket anywhere.

“I’m not really looking too far ahead … but I’d love to be in that ODI team for the World Cup.”

There’s been no shortage of time on the sidelines for Cummins to study and tweak his bowling action.

The right-armer suggested he was “trying to stand up a little bit taller”, but there had been no significant change.

“I don’t think I’m too different,” he said.

“I’m probably a couple of kilos stronger and a couple of years older.

“I feel like I’m maturing into my body a little bit more.”

Cummins would be a major asset in Australia’s bid to reclaim the World Cup, which starts on February 14 against England at the MCG.

But Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW are naturally going to take an incredibly conservative approach with his bowling workloads during summer.

“I want to play every game but I’m a realist,” Cummins said.

“I know what they have planned is best for me and to be honest I’m totally on board with them.

“It’s not at the stage where I get told what to do. It’s more of a conversation and we come to a happy medium.”

Cummins will now turn his attention to Sunday’s T20 series decider at ANZ Stadium.

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